Task Force Berlin
by InnerSanctumFish
Summary: As the Reaper War rages on, many are called upon to take action as the chaos continues to spread throughout the galaxy. They will be charged with holding any vital resources until the tide is turned. Welcome to the special forces of Task Force Berlin. Note: Series of OCs. Some Tali/Shep.


**Hey everyone, I'm back with another one for you all. Now before someone decides to track me down for not putting up the next chapter for PSG, I decided to start this story because I'm having a writers block moment. So basically this will be based off of the multiplayer aspects of ME3, more specifically how I picture my characters interacting with each other on and off missions. There will be references to the main storyline and various key characters but for the most part it will be OCs. Hope you enjoy!**

Chapter One

"I can't believe we're being ordered to leave Earth! We should be down there evacuating the civilians!" Shannon shouted as she jumped out of the Kodiak before it touched down in the shuttle bay.

"Screw that! What we should be doing is taking the fight to the bastards!" Johnson added to the already heated debate as the hot headed biotic stalked after his friend.

"Come on guys. You know we can't do any real damage to them. We have our orders." Rick tried reasoning with his squad again.

"Yeah right. Toss me a Cain and we'll see what they think of me." Johnson muttered as he and what was left of the returning marines gathered around their lockers to store their equipment.

Rick sighed and decided against arguing with his teammate. They had been arguing ever since their platoon was ordered off planet. They were forty strong before one of those flying wormnecks took out three of the four shuttles as they were lifting off. The twelve of them were all that was left.

"Just let it go Rick." a voice came from inside the shuttle. Rick turned to see their lieutenant stepping out of the shuttle. Involuntarily, he snapped off a salute.

"Relax man. Now is not really the time for that." Allison waved the salute off half-heartedly.

Rick hesitated for a moment and nodded. Although he considered Allison a close friend she was still his superior.

"Their just angry about the whole situation. Let them calm down a bit. They'll see the bigger picture." Allison continued as she removed her scorched armor.

"I know," Rick started before taking a breath as he set his helmet down on the bench, "It's just that I never thought that it would be this bad. How the hell we suppose to fight something like that. I saw one of those things wipe out an entire armored division without even slowing down."

"Yeah I know, I was there remember? Look, soon as the rest of the team finishes stowing their gear tell them to meet me up on the crew deck." Allison added before closing her locker.

"Sure thing ma'am."

* * *

After a hasty shower he quickly donned his uniform and examined himself briefly to ensure that he was presentable. Satisfied that none of his belongings had been disturbed while he was gone, Rick left the crew quarters to meet up with everyone else.

"Took you long enough to put on your makeup. Did you get a new haircut as well?" Jason remarked. Karen snickered at the comment.

"Yeah, real funny guys." Rick rolled his eyes.

"Right settle down guys. The captain will be down here any minute to brief us." Allison informed them before shooting a smirk at Rick as he took his seat.

Rick took the chance to steal a glance at the rest of his team. He always had a tendency to observe the rest of the team after missions. He found that it was a good way to gauge everybody's mood.

Jason and Karen were both relaxed and joking around with one another but that was to be expected, the two were inseparable ever since tech academy and humor was one of the ways they dealt with the situation. Johnson had his arms crossed and he was scowling at Rick. The two of them had never exactly got along. Johnson was always more direct than Rick. Shannon was angrily skimming through her datapad, but he had no idea what she was staring at from his vantage point.

Richard looked bored as he absently ran his hand through his hair while his sister Sarah appeared nervous and kept glancing over towards the elevator. Ling had her legs kicked up on the table as she leaned back in her chair. Henry was busy chatting with Lopez, probably arguing about the finer points of their respective weapons as they looked for some food before heading back to the table.

Rain looked like as if she was asleep but on closer inspection she was also studying everyone else. She caught his eye and gave him a sly wink causing him to avert his eyes before she returned to her own observations. Allison had her hands together in front of her while she leaned forward in her seat. Judging by the look in her eyes, she was probably thinking about what happened to the rest of their platoon.

His observations were broken short at the sound of the elevator pinging followed by the sound of footsteps.

"Officer on deck!" Allison shouted as everyone snapped to and saluted until Captain Lance stood in front of their group and returned the salute.

"At ease," Lance waited for everyone to take their seats again before continuing. "Although the situation may seem otherwise."

"Your damn right it is." Johnson muttered.

"Something you like to share with the rest with of us private?" Lance asked in calm but demanding manner.

"No sir. Sorry sir." Johnson replied before clamping his mouth shut.

"Good. Now as you all know the Reapers have hit us and they've hit us hard. Admiral Hackett himself is recalling all ships to regroup and wait for a chance to strike back."

"Are we heading to Arcturus sir?" Allison asked.

There was an uncomfortable silence before she got her answer.

"There is no more Arcturus. What's left of the fleets that were guarding it have been either destroyed or decimated."

The team all exchanged glances at each other. It had seemed impossible that the Reapers could have defeated them so quickly what with the bulk of the Alliance fleets guarding Arcturus.

"Admiral Hackett has called a cease on all offensive actions until our fleets can take back Earth. The forces that we still have back on Earth will be buying us time to prepare so lets not waste it."

"Until we get new orders we will be heading to the Citadel for a restock. Dismissed."

Rick got up to leave with the others but before he did he saw the Captain pull Allison off to the side. Feeling curious, he pretended to redo the laces on his boots while straining to hear the conversation.

"I'm sorry about what happened to your men lieutenant."

"They did their duty sir." Allison replied grimly.

The captain nodded in understanding and patted her on the shoulder before leaving. Allison was about to follow as well when she noticed Rick standing up.

"You alright LT?" Rick asked with concern.

"I'm fine. I gotta go take care of a few reports. Thanks for asking though." She gave him a weak smile before strolling off to her quarters.

* * *

The hours rolled by slowly and Rick eventually found himself sitting in the cargo bay cleaning his weapons. It was late and there were only a few people in the bay and they were busy repairing the shuttle. After what they had been through that day he couldn't bring himself to get some sleep. He had thought about trying to draw Allison out of her shell but decided against it. After she had finished her reports she had gone straight to bed. Rick however had no doubt that she had been writing letters of condolences to the families of the men and women they had lost. So engrossed in his thoughts and work, he failed to notice the other occupant in the room.

"What you doing down here all by yourself Rick?" a voice called out from behind him.

Rick turned around and saw Rain grinning at him as she leaned against the lockers.

"Nothing really. Just cleaning my gear." Rick replied as he set his rifle aside, "What about you? You never come down here unless we got an assignment."

"How would you know? You don't even see me unless I make it blatantly obvious." Rain countered in a playful manner.

"What do you think is gonna happen?" Rain asked seriously as she took a seat on a crate across from him.

"Honestly I don't know. We'll have to see when we get to the Citadel." Rick answered. He still had no idea what they could do in the grand scheme of things.

"Well until then you up for some sparring?" Rain asked as she gestured over to the work out corner of the cargo bay.

"Maybe not. Last time I felt like you pulled my arm out of its socket." Rick admitted with a grimace, "What about Lopez?"

"Asleep. Couldn't even hear myself asking while he was snoring." Rain shrugged.

Knowing how Rain was, he agreed. She usually talked someone into doing what she wanted.

"I'm gonna regret this aren't I?" Rick questioned himself.

"All depends on you buddy." Rain grinned again as she cracked her knuckles.

**Well that's all for this chapter folks, but don't worry there's plenty more to go. I'm debating on keeping these chapters short or expanding it a little. If you liked this story than I will continue on with it but the majority of my time will be devoted to PSG. I'll see you all in the next one! **


End file.
